Question: Realistically will another SEC West team not named Bama and LSU ever win a NC?

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Re: Realistically will another SEC West team not named Bama and LSU ever win a NC?

Ever? Sure.

I think at least three things need to happen:

1) Down year for traditional powers and/or fortunate scheduling
2) Outstanding player or two at a OB and/or RB with a coach smart enough to use them properly or at least get out of the way
3) Luck in the form of very limited injuries and events falling in just the right way during game play -- this is usually necessary for even the best teams to win it all, but especially so for a team like the barn, or the Mississippi schools.

Every few years, there comes a perfect storm in which the traditional powers are slightly down or lose a game they shouldn't, while a medicore team with an truly exceptional skill player at QB or RB and/or a decent coach gets just the right amount of breaks to give themselves a chance. Examples of teams who won national titles this way in relatively recent decades include Pitt, Georgia, Georgia Tech, BYU, barn, Tennessee, and Colorado. It's particulary tough in the SEC for this to happen, but it can. If Newton had ended up at Mississippi State under Mullen, I think they could have had the barn's season. If TAMU had not been forced to cancel their first game this season, they probably beat Florida and even with an LSU loss, might be #2 in the country right now. Of couse, the Aggies have some pro-level talent in the trenches and an offensive scheme that caught teams off guard this season. This is an example of the luck factor. If there was not a hurricane to cancel TAMU's first game, things might be very different in the SEC West right now. Next year, Manziel is not a surprise and they will have lost some really important players from their lines. Will they be a Tebow-era Florida team for a couple of years? We'll see.

Aside from schools like Vandy (where academic standards are a tremendous recruiting handicap) or Kentucky (where football is only a diversion until basketball sesaon arrives), any team in the SEC could make a run, especially with a playoff system. Almost all other schools in our conference have SEC-level talent at the starting level. It just takes the right circumstances for those teams to have their shot at the end of the year. Fate is fickle and some doormat teams never get a chance.

Re: Realistically will another SEC West team not named Bama and LSU ever win a NC?

Originally Posted by RollinTider1335

This is all relatively cyclical. I say yes it is possible thinking big picture.

When you look at it there is a good possibility Bama will have down years again in the future also....and will rebound again. This is why I am enjoying this ride, and not getting cocky, being on top of college football right now because it will last forever. It is all too familiar in my memory of the troubles we endured from 2000 to 2006/7. I can really appreciate where we/Bama is now.

Let's not lose focus. To know where you are going, you have to remember where you've been.

Well said. I have been watching Alabama football since Bryant, and have seen several empires rise and fall. It wasn't so long ago that we were struggling through 3 and 4 win seasons.

Alabama will always have the capacity to be a dominant program, but nothing is guaranteed. Coaches like Saban are extremely rare. All it takes is one bad hire to send the train careening off the tracks. I'll enjoy the current ride as long as it lasts (and hope it lasts a good long time).

Re: Realistically will another SEC West team not named Bama and LSU ever win a NC?

Originally Posted by WalkaboutSean

Well said. I have been watching Alabama football since Bryant, and have seen several empires rise and fall. It wasn't so long ago that we were struggling through 3 and 4 win seasons.

Alabama will always have the capacity to be a dominant program, but nothing is guaranteed. Coaches like Saban are extremely rare. All it takes is one bad hire to send the train careening off the tracks. I'll enjoy the current ride as long as it lasts (and hope it lasts a good long time).

You'll have to refresh my memory. When was that?

Lee

"A long way," he said after being asked how far the Crimson Tide had come since Coach Nick Saban arrived three years ago. "I guess you could say it's the distance from Shreveport to Pasadena."
Mike Johnson

Re: Realistically will another SEC West team not named Bama and LSU ever win a NC?

Explains it..........I try not to remember that span of years.

Lee

"A long way," he said after being asked how far the Crimson Tide had come since Coach Nick Saban arrived three years ago. "I guess you could say it's the distance from Shreveport to Pasadena."
Mike Johnson

Re: Realistically will another SEC West team not named Bama and LSU ever win a NC?

MSU and Ole Sister will not be able to hold on to Freeze and Mullet.
Both will bail when $$ and a real program is thrown at them.
Mississippi will return to back to the bottom where they dream of hope and upset Saturdays.
Bama / LSU / TAMU and everyone else for the next 2-5 years, maybe even longer.

Re: Realistically will another SEC West team not named Bama and LSU ever win a NC?

I could see TAMU included in our ranks.
TAMU has the money, facilities will be improved, they will pay for a top coach.
From what I've seen TAMU fans are just bout as willing as our fans to do whatever is required
to put themselves in place to win.
Yep, I'm impressed with TAMU. Good SEC team.
(We won't take a win for granted anymore...)

Re: Realistically will another SEC West team not named Bama and LSU ever win a NC?

I think any team in the SEC has a chance to win one with the exception of Vandy. It depends a lot on if the leaders at any institution has the will to do what it takes to win one which in my opinion means: #1 hire a good coach that doesn't have to cheat to win. #2 Leave him alone. #3 give him the facilities it takes to win. #4 don't try to run him off every time he has a down year. In the SEC it is going to happen every now and then.

ATM is going to be a serious threat to Bama. They have money. They have probably the best recruiting base in the nation. After a few years in the SEC they will start to have the will. Their big money boosters already have the will IMO.

Arkansas probalby would have done it in the next few years if Petrino could have kept his pants zipped.

Miss St & Ole Miss can do it. Aubietown has done it - as painful as that is to type.

LSU is LSU. Nuff said.

I pretty much say the same thing about Ole Miss that my Dad used to say about Florida in the 70's and 80's. He used to say that if Florida ever got a coach that shook them out of the "party first-football second" mentality they would be tough to stop once they got the ball rolling. I think once Ole Miss starts to realize that winning is a lot better than having a great tailgate tradition they are a sleeping giant ready to awake.

Re: Realistically will another SEC West team not named Bama and LSU ever win a NC?

Don't really see aTm as a major continued player. that fancy offense they run will be blown up in 2 or 3 years, like all the other ones that have come into the league over the last 20 years. plus, they do not have the best recruiting base, that belongs to Florida. I think Texas is a little over rated as far as a recruiting goes. they have a lot of good player because of the number of High Schools, but not a lot of great players IMO.

Re: Realistically will another SEC West team not named Bama and LSU ever win a NC?

Originally Posted by bamaga

Don't really see aTm as a major continued player. that fancy offense they run will be blown up in 2 or 3 years, like all the other ones that have come into the league over the last 20 years. plus, they do not have the best recruiting base, that belongs to Florida. I think Texas is a little over rated as far as a recruiting goes. they have a lot of good player because of the number of High Schools, but not a lot of great players IMO.

The second bold quote is a contradiction. Numbers are everything in an area of the country where high school football is king. Coach Saban would be every bit as successful in Texas(God forbid) as he would here, if he only recruited from in state, there. Here he gets what he wants from in state and, now, can be choosey from other states because of his success here and Alabama's history and reputation.

aTm's success is dependent on Manzell as all spread offenses are. If the QB isn't a star then this fast break offense doesn't work. Cam, Manzell, White, I can keep listing them but the formula never changes, it hinges on the QB. The best thing about Pro style, is that it's flexible about what drives the offense. It can be a running back, or the QB/wide receiver. If you build the defense to maintain a top 5 level always you can be flexible and tailor the offense to the talent. Tamu will be be successful, at least until he leaves.

Lee

"A long way," he said after being asked how far the Crimson Tide had come since Coach Nick Saban arrived three years ago. "I guess you could say it's the distance from Shreveport to Pasadena."
Mike Johnson